Button-setting machine.



F. E. STANLEY & G. R. LEGGETT.

BUTTON SETTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 10. i915.

1,1 83,822. Patented May 16, 1916.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

F. E. STANLEY 64 G. R. LEGGETT.

, BUTTON SETTING MACHINE.

APPLlCATlON FILED MAY 10. I9I5.

Patented May 16, 1916.

4 SHEETSSHEET 3.

. Sww/mbor/J 'TZLJMG 6% Q F. E. STANLEY & G. R. LEGGETT.

BUTTON SETTING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED MAY 10. I915. 1,183,822. lntvnted May16,191(

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK STANLEY AND GEORGE R. LEGGETT, F WATERBUR-Y, CONNECTICUT,

ASSIGNORS TO' SCOVILL MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF WATERBURY, CONNECTI- CUT, A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

BUTTON-SETTING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application. filed May 10, 1915. Serial No. 27,042.-

- b To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, FREDERICK E. STAN- I and exact description.

idly and accurately.

In the preferred construction,the buttons from below the article-to which they are top The object ofthis invention is to provide a power machine for setting tack-fastened buttons on garments and other articles rap are fed from above, and the tacks supplied be attached,'and the article moved b'y'hand between them to space the successive buttons properly thereon.

The invention consists of a button feeding and delivering mechanism, whereby a button fed edgewise, for example, is righted,

that is to say, given a quarterturn over into a horizontal position, with its hub down,

and in this position or angular relation transferred to means by which it is present ed to the fastener-applying mechanism to be I set, as we will finally claim.

In accordance with the requirement-of the Patent Ofiice the claims for the button turning mechanism are divided outv of this case and form the subject of our case filed. N0- vember 13, 1915, Serial No. 61,326, and the claims for, the tack-feeding mechanism are likewise. divided out ofthis case and form the subjectof our case filed November 13, 1915, Serial No. 61,327. 1 In the accompanying drawingsillustrating the invention, inthe several figures of which like parts are similarly designated, Figure '1 is a front elevation. Fig. 2 is a left-hand side elevation of the upper parts of the machine. Fig. 3'is a detail in vertical section of parts of the button and tack mechanism. Fig. at is a perspective view of the tackpositioning slide. Fig. 5 is a horizontal section below the magazines or hoppers, on a larger scale. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the button righting device. Fig. 7 is a side elevation of part of the bearing for the button righting device open to gain access to such device. Fig. 8 is a perspective view proceed now to explain and.

of the button righting cylinder and the button ejector separated. Fig. 9 is a vertical section taken to the right (Fig. 1) of the setting mechanism and on a larger, scale. Fig. 10 is an inside elevation of the button holder, and Fig. 11 is a side elevation of one of the two fingers of the button holder. .Fig. 12- is a sectional elevation of the tack holder and plunger. Fig. 13'is a vertical section taken in the plane of line A B, Fig. 5, looking toward the right, but showing the parts in position when the button has been set. Fig. 14 is an edge view or elevation of one form of button which the machine shown is designed to set; Fig. 15 is an elevation of a fastening tack, and Fig. 16 is a cross-section of abutton set on a piece of fabric.

1 is the bed-plate or table, mounted upon legs or frames 2.

3 is the main-shaft from which the various moving parts are. driven. Thi s shaft may be and preferably is connected with a drive-shaft 4 by reducing gearing 5 and 6 for the purpose, among others, of running the machine at high speed. The shaft 4 is provided with any suitable means, preferablya band-pulley 7, for application of power by' means of ,a round belt 8. The

shafts 3 and 4 are mounted in hearings in a head 9 erected on the bed-plate or. table 1, and the gear 5 is arranged loosely upon its shaft'3 with any suitable friction or ,other clutch (not shown) interposed between the shaft and gear and operated by anysuitable means to cause the gear to turn with the shaft, as by a lever 10 pivoted on studshaft 11 mounted in boss 12 on the head, and

' connected with a treadle 13 by a rod 14, but

motion from the main-shaft, as will appear.

more fully in the progress'of this description, and we have found that the high speed required and the necessary control of the machine are best obtained by applying the power by what is commonly called a round. belt not directly to the main shaft 3 but to adriving shaft 4, and gearing these shafts by a two to one or other desired train of gears 5, 6, the main shaft having the stop- .ping and starting mechanism applied to it.

b The button magazine or hopper 15 and the tack magazine or hopper 16 are mounted upon the head in any suitable manner, and at any suitable angle, and so as to be capable of being turned to effect the discharge of their contents. Preferably these magazines have their shafts 17 and 18 respectively extended rearwardly and supplied with band-pulleys 19 and 20 respectively, which are faston theirshafts and are connected by the band 21, so as to turn in the same direction. The shaft ,17 is driven by a pulley 22 connected by a band 23 passing over direction idlers 24 and 25 to a driving pulley 26 on the main-shaft. The pulley 22 is loose on shaft 17 and carries a pawl 27 which engages a ratchet 28 fast on shaft 17. The button hopper or magazine is loose on its shaft but is held frictionally to. turn with it by any suitable means, such as the spring 29 and the wash ers 30, which latter are keyed to turn with the shaft and the nut 31. By these means the button and tack magazines may be turned by hand, independently of the driv-' ing pulley 22, so as to remove obstacles and providefor emergency filling, and the filling of the raceways leading from the magazines to the setting devices, whenever they become empty or insufficiently filled. The tack hopper may be secured to its shaftin any suitable way to turn with it as desired, and we. have shown a nut 32 as the means for. retaining it upon its shaft.

The buttons are discharged from the magazine into a raceway 33 depending therefrom, with their hubs outermost, and must be turned for setting purposes, so as to present their hubslow'ermost and vertically. The lower end of the raceway is in- .tercepted transversely by a reciprocating cut-off 34, actuated by a mock-lever 35 pivoted on the head of the machine, a connecting link 36, a spring 37 and a cam 38 on the main shaft, to deliver one button at a time, and below this cut-ofi is an offset raceway 39 which opens into a transversely ar'- ranged casing 40, in'which is arranged the button-turner that receives the button edgewise from the raceway and gives it a quarter turn so as to present its hub vertically downward. This turner comprises a cylindrical piece 41, having a diametrical opening or slot 42 at one end, of a size sufiicient to receive the button edgewise, and it is provided" with circumferential spur-teeth 43 outside of the casing which are engaged by a toothed rack 44 on a longitudinally reciprocating bar 45 mounted in the head of the machine-at the :rear of the turner and actuated by a cam. 46 on the cam-carrier 47 fast on the main shaft, and a spring 48. By this means the-turner is turned with its opening vertical to receive abutton edgewise from the raceway and then it is turned a quarter turn so as to move the button from a. verti-' cal to a horizontal position with its hub down and in the position it must have in order to be set. The turner piece 41 is bored longitudinally and in this bore is mounted a stem 49 having the transverse head 50 curved on its face to conform to the curvature of the rim of the button-head. The stem projects out of the toothed end of the turner device and its head Works in the opening or slot 42. The stem is provided with an adjustable grooved collar 51 whichv is engaged by .a tracker pin on a shifter lever 52 pivoted on the head of the machine and having a cam roller engaged by a cam 53 on the main shaft, so that when the machine is running the stem and its head will be given a longitudinal reciprocating move -ment in the turning device to eject the turned or righted button therefrom, and because of this functionv the stem and its head, are herein referred to as an ejector. The cams 38 and 53 may be and arehere shown as one structure. In order to obtain access to the turner to remove a defective button and forother purposes,'the bottom of the'casing is made with a hinged gate 54 provided with a pivotedspring or othereffective latch 55 engaging'a slotted keeper projection 56 on the 2 Figs. 6, 7 and 9.

By means of the button-turner'or buttonrighting device described, the positioning casing,' see details of the button is removed from the uncertain automatic action of the prior art raceways,

to a certain and positively acting mecha nism, with the result, among others, that the speed or capacity of the machine is greatly increased, and its operation attended improperly ment' therethrough of the vertically recip-.

rocatingsetting anvil 59 and" the discharge therefrom of the button being set, and these fingers are held in operative relation by a spring-'60. The inturned ends of the fingers are'undercut at their outer portions transversely'tolthe vertical anvil passage,.to form a pocket 61,'of substantially the profile of the button, into which the buttons are successively ejected by the ejector;- and by means of this pocket the button is held in the fingers against the possibility as well of misplacement' as of accidentaldisplacement. The fingers ar'eheld in longitudinally sliding engagement with the head by a'screw 62, the head of which is large enough tooverlap the fingers at their greatest lateral separation in operation. The upper portions of the fingers are cut away to form an intermediate slot 63 and into this slot pro jects a pin 64 fast on the anvil. Above the pin is an adjustable spring adjusting device 65 on the fingers, to adjust the fingerends to the turner and take up any shock. The anvil 59 in its descent comes into contact with the finger-ends and carries said fingers down with it until said fingers reach the limit of their downward movement, which is determined by the relation of the screw 62 to the slot 66 between the fingers in which it is arranged. The finger-ends are moved by the anvil into a position lower than that of the turner,-and then the further descent of the anvil and its consequent ejection' of the button cams the fingers apart under resistance of their spring, and the button is in position to be set. After the button is set the anvil is retracted and as it rises and the pin 64 comes into engagement with the adjusting device 65, the fingers are returned to normal button-receiving rela tion to the turner and ejector.. This return .movement of the fingers is arrested by the bottom of the slot 66- coming into contact with the emergency finger-opening cam lever 67, This cam-lever'67 is pivoted to the head so as to operate within the slot 66 to separate the fingers whenever desired. When in this. position the turner opening or slot 42 is in horizontal alinement with the pocket 61 in the finger-ends and the ejector is in position to eject the button from the turner into the pocket in the fingers.

' The anvil may be operated by any suite able means, such as a bell-crank lever 68 mounted in the head and connected with the anvil by a link 69, the lever 68being actuated by a connecting rod 70 extending thence rear wardly and forked to straddle the main shaft and having a cam-roller 71 engaged by a cam 72 fast on said main shaft which imparts a compound longitudinal and rising and falling motion to the connecting rod and a rocking motion to the bell-crank lever 68.

The tack magazine has a raceway 73 made with a twist so as to receive the tack heads on edge from the magazine and turn the tacks point up before they reach the cut-off 74. This cut-ofi' has two fingers 75 having their tips 76 extending toward one another across the raceway, and these fingers are fast on a rock-lever, 77 pivotedon the back of the racewayand connected by a rod 78 with a vibrating arm 79 pivoted at 80 to the headand having a cam-roller 81 engaging a cam 82 fast on the main shaft. In

order to prevent breaking of parts in the event of jamming the raceway or cut-off,

the rod 78 has a coil 83 formed in it to serve as a spring which will yield under such j ameeig ing and thus prevent breaking any of the the tack point upright.

,vention followed.

parts. The rock-lever 77 and its fingers 75 may be returned to position by a spring 84'fastened to said lever by one end and to the head by the other. The tacks are delivered one by one to a feed'trough 85 arranged in the head beneath and 'in line with the anvil, and in this feed trough is a slide 86 having the pair of parallel fingers 87 to straddle the tack point, and undercut to afford a recess 88 to receive the head of the tack, and an upstanding fin 89 to keep This slide constitutes the tack ejector. The slide is reciprocated in the feed-trough by means of a bellcrank 90 pivoted on the machine head and having one arm connected by a link 91 with an upstanding lug 92 on the slide, and another arm provided with a cam-roller 93 engaging a cam 94 fast on the main shaft. The tack ejector delivers the tack to fingers 95 pivoted to the head adjacent to the setting die or plunger 96, these fingers being yieldingly connected, as by a bow spring 97. A stop 98 prevents the escape of the tack and also serves to position it on the plunger.

The plunger 96 is vertically reciprocated in the head and between the yielding fingers 95 by a bell-crank lever 99 pivotally mounted in an extension of the head beneath ger by link 100, and having a connecting rod 101 provided with a forked end which straddles the main shaft and is provided with a cam roller 102 engaged by a cam 103 fast on the main shaft.

We have herein referred to the cams 82,

94 and 103 as though each were a separate structure, as they may be, but they are herein shown as combined in one structure. .These and otherdetails of construction and of the machine builder, so long as the effective cooperation and coordination of parts are concerned and the principle of the in- Again, it is to be noted that we have described the button turner in broad terms, in order to emphasize the fact that we do not wish to be considered as limiting our invention to details. In the drawings, however, one construction only is shown, and this illustrates the cylindrical piece 41 as having a reduced portion 104 next to the teeth 43 and fitted in a sleeve 105 having a rear extension 106 fixed to the back of the casing, as screws 107. This cylindrical piece is held in the casing and sleeveby the collar 108 fixed to the reduced portion 104 outside the sleeve. The casing in this instance is a part of or attached to, the lower end of the button raceway. The teeth 43 may be'cut in the piece 41 as shown, or otherwise provided. v The operation would appear to be sufiiciently indicated in and by the foregoing.

However, it may be briefly stated that, the

respective magazines being supplied with buttons and tacks and the machine started, the buttons and tacks are fed one by one to their respective delivery points. The article to be supplied with buttons, represented at 109, Fig. 16, is passed by the operator between the anvil and plunger and arrested momentarily beneath the anvil. The tack 110 is first positioned over the plunger, point up, and held by the fingers 95, and the tack ejector recedes to take its place for the next tack. Then a button 111 is righted, transferred to the pocket in the fingers 57 and carried down by the fingers and anvil toward the tack and the plunger is caused to ascend and pass the tack point through the article and into the combined anvil and filler 112 in the button wherein it is clenched and the button so set. Then the parts reverse, the article is movedalong to a point where another button is to be attached', and the operations repeated. The spring fingers 95 yield inthe direction of movement of the article and thus offer no obstacle to the release of the set tack, but

' rather facilitate it.

a tack supplying means, and means to unite the buttons and tacks upon an interposed article, of a button turner adapted to receive the buttons one at a time and turn them ari ht for subsequent discharge there from an application of the tack, means to receive the buttons from the turner and position them for setting, and an ejector mounted on the turnerin permanent alinement with its discharge end for transferring the righted'button from the turner to the positioning means.

2. In a button-setting machine, the comoination with a button magazine, and a raceway for conducting the buttons therefrom, of a rotary reciprocating button turning device intercepting the raceway at its delivery end and adapted to turn the buttons one at a time right side up, a settingmechanism, means to receive the buttonfrom the turning device and present it to the setting mechanism, and a reciprocating ejector arranged in and carried by the turning device and serving to transfer the righted button from the turning device to the presenting, means.

'3. In a button setting machine, the comoination of a magazine button feed, including a delivery raceway in which the buttons feed edgewise, means to receive and right opening therein and a stem projecting outside of the cyliiider, means to actuate the rack, means to reciprocate the ejector, and partible button-holding and presenting fingers to which the buttons are transferred by the ejector from the cylinder.

4. In a button setting machine, a button supplying mechanism having a turning device by which the button is presented right side up, and a button transferring mechanism including vertically movable and laterally separable fingers adapted to receive the button from the turning device, and an adjustable spring adjusting device applied to said fingers to adjust the finger-ends to the turner and take up shock.

5. In a button setting machine, the combination of a button feeding mechanism having a rotary shaft, a tack feeding mechanism having a rotary shaft, a main shaft, pulleys on the shafts of the button and tack supplying mechanisms, a band connecting said pulleys, a loose pulley on the shaft of the button feeding mechanism, means to cause it to turn said shaft, a band pulley on the main shaft, and a band connecting said main shaft band pulley with the loose pulley on the shaft of the button feeding mechanism.

6. In a button setting machine, a button feeding mechanism, a raceway into which the buttons are delivered edgewise, a turning device to receive the buttons one by one as delivered and right them, an ejecting mechanism for discharging the buttons from the turning device, vertically movable partible fingers to which the button is transferred from the turning device, a setting anvil cooperating with said fingers, a tack feeding mechanism,' and means to present the tacks one by one into cooperative relation with the button, a main shaft, and cams thereon for actuating the button discharge, the turning-device, the anvil and fingers and the tack presenting mechanism. 7. In a button setting machine, a button feeding mechanism, a raceway into which the buttons are delivered edgewise, a turning device to receive the buttons one by one as delivered and right them, an ejectingmechanism for'discharging the buttons from one by one into cooperative relation with the button, a main shaft and cams thereon for actuating the button discharge, the turning device, the anvil and fingers and the tack presenting mechanism, a driving shaft, and a reducing gearing interposed between the driving shaft and the main shaft.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto igtl our hands this 8th day of May, A. D.

FREDERICK E. STANLEY. GEORGE R. LEGGETT.

Witnesses:

J OHN H. Gross, WM. I-I. MONAGAN. 

